Clashes resume in Pakistan as protesters briefly seize state TV station

Soldiers from the Pakistan Rangers stop supporters of Tahir ul-Qadri, Sufi cleric and leader of political party Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), during Revolution March towards the prime minister's house in Islamabad September 1, 2014 (Reuters / Faisal Mahmood) / Reuters

Police have fired teargas at demonstrators in Islamabad who were trying to reach Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s residence. Earlier protesters, who have been picketing for two weeks against the PM, briefly took a state TV channel off the air.

The clashes resumed Monday afternoon between anti-government
protesters who want Sharif to resign and police from Pakistan’s
capital, as demonstrators tried once again to reach the Prime
Minister’s residence. Police fired teargas to try and stop them,
while live television footage showed the demonstrators to be
confused, armed with wooden clubs and some pressing scarves
against their faces to less the effect of the tear gas, Reuters
reports.

This was the second attempt by protesters to try and reach
Sharif’s home Monday. In the morning picketers marched on
government buildings and managed to break down the main gate into
the compound. On this occasion, the police showed restraint
against the visibly angry crowd, with just the occasional tear
gas canister fired, even though they were being pelted with
rocks. A similar attempt was also made Saturday to storm the
compound, which resulted in three deaths and hundreds were
wounded.

Also Monday, activists tried to storm a Pakistan state TV
building. They managed to get to the main control room after
rampaging through its corridors and smashed some equipment, a PTV
source said.

"They have stormed the PTV office," a news anchor said
just before the screen went blank. "PTV staff performing
their journalistic duties are being beaten up."

The television center is now back under government control, and
transmissions have resumed after Pakistani soldiers and
paramilitary forces entered the building and escorted the
protesters out, according to Reuters.

However, there were no reports of violence between the
paramilitary forces and the protesters.

As the television station came back on air, it broadcast images
of protesters embracing the Police Rangers and agreeing to leave,
AP reports.

Speaking just hours after the attack on the television building,
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif told Reuters that the government
was running out of patience with the protesters and would not
hesitate to use force, especially if protesters attacked state
institutions.

"If not mass arrests, selective use of force can be
used," he said, following a meeting with Sharif and his
advisers.

"The writ of the state must be enforced. We hope to make a
decisive move sometimes later today, not in the evening but even
before that," he said. "I personally feel that the next
few hours will determine the course of coming events."

The protests have been led by former cricketing legend Imran Kahn
and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri. Kahn says he refuses to call off the
demonstrations until the embattled PM resigns. The politician has
urged his supporters to refrain from violence.

"I call upon my workers to remain peaceful," Khan said
on Monday from atop a shipping container at the main rally site.
"Do not carry out any acts of violence. God has given us
victory."

On Sunday, Kahn mentioned that he is prepared to see his protest
through to the finish.

“I am prepared to die here. I have learnt that government
plans a major crackdown against us tonight,” he said. “I
am here till my last breath.”

In his first speech since the protests began, he showed that he
plans to remain defiant, saying "We have survived difficult
times. In the 2008 elections, our hands were tied. But we
campaigned and participated, we did not cry about rigging — and
it would have been a legitimate cry," the PTI news agency
reported.

Several rounds of negotiations between representatives of Khan
and Qadri and the government have failed to make any headway.

Khan and ul-Qadri have been demanding greater democracy in the
country. Sharif, who was elected into power last year, said he would
accept all demands for electoral reform, but has refused their
demand for him to vacate his position. They believe that Sharif
only won that election due to voter fraud. Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party came second in many major cities and
he did accept the results of the election but called for a probe
into alleged vote rigging. International observers did not find
any evidence of vote tampering.

The prime minister is set to address both houses of parliament on
Tuesday to try to show that he is in control of the situation.
This is Sharif’s third spell as Pakistan’s PM. On both previous
occasions he was disposed by coups.

The protests began on Pakistan’s Independence Day, August 14, when protesters
began to march from Lahore in the east of the country, to
Islamabad. Upon reaching the capital, the thousands of protesters
have set up camp near the parliament and are demanding that the
PM step down.